Re: Nighthawk M1 battery charging problem

ajohnsonmc · ‎2017-05-16

I have just bought a Netgear Nighthawk M1 through Telstra to enable working in the field. Plugged into the wallmount to charge and the battery seems to drain instead. It will only charge through USB which defeats the purpose of being completely mobile. There is a community discussion on this going back to 2014 but no obvious solution offered. Any suggestions?

michaelkenward · ‎2017-05-17

@ajohnsonmc wrote:
Plugged into the wallmount to charge ...

What's the "wallmount"? That's not a term that I am familiar with. Nor is Google in this context.

A transformer with a USB output?

ajohnsonmc · ‎2017-05-17

Is this a weird Australianism? The plug that goes into the wall is what makes it a wall-mounted plug. And yes, the USB goes into it. Exactly like most charging devices.

Bests, Anne.

PepitoBird · ‎2017-05-17

I believe he's referring the AC wall socket.

I'm finding the same thing unfortunately. The Nighthawk M1 wont charge while plugged into AC power via the included wall charger.

I'm also in Australia so maybe we received a bad batch of wall chargers?

michaelkenward · ‎2017-05-18

@PepitoBird wrote:
I'm also in Australia so maybe we received a bad batch of wall chargers?

That's an easy one to test. Try a different wall charger.

The delight of the USB approach is that it doesn't matter whose charger you use. They all deliver the USB standard output.

So try a charger from your mobile phone.

One thing worth considering for road use is one of those large battery packs that they sell to top up your phone on the road. I have one that holds 10200 mAh. It would probably run the mobile router for quite some time.

You could also check that the micro USB lead isn't a dud.

Page 22 of the manual has some tips on charging:

>>> MR1100 | Product | Support | NETGEAR <<<

ajohnsonmc · ‎2017-05-18

Thank you, that makes sense. Will try these suggestions on return from work travels (without router).

michaelkenward · ‎2017-05-19

@Wstyle1 wrote:
...it can be charged via right adapter.

What is "right adapter"? The one in the box? Or, as I suggested, any USB adaptor?

jenjo77 · ‎2017-07-18

I received a Netgear Nighthawk M1 23 May 2017 as a replacement for one I received in March. The problem is similar and happened almost two months to the date –

The Netgear has been working well, but last night it wouldn't recharge, and now it seems totally dead.
It had recharged [via wall mount socket] to approx. 80%, and yet when I returned around 10 mins later the charge had totally drained so that there was only one bar in the battery image.
I tried recharging instead via the USB port in my computer, and went to m.home, but while I still had wifi, for a brief tine, the page just kept trying to load. I checked a Netgear support page, and other people had had the same problem, with the battery draining rather than charging. They thought it was the adaptor.
Now the Netgear won’t turn on, no lights, nothing. No lightning bolt to show charging.
I have removed the battery and put it back in, and tried to reboot the router to no avail.

Is this common with Netgear Nighthawks? Should I buy a nbew battery? Is it the adaptor? Desperate minds want to know!

ajohnsonmc · ‎2017-07-18

Hi there,

After advice from this site I used a different adaptor (wall mount) and the unit seems to be working fine now (at least for the last eight weeks). Good luck. A

jenjo77 · ‎2017-07-18

Thanks, A.

Telstra is replacing the Nighthawk since it is still under warranty, but this is the second time it's happened in exactly the same way, two months between each time. I'm getting spooked about the two month doom-time! I'll try it again and see what happens in september!

CVDW · ‎2017-08-08

I had the same problems. I removed the battery. The Nighthawk even diden't startup without the battey on a 2.4 Amp. adaptor. I did try it over and over again, .........but

But afther I removed the sim (sim-card), it started without any problem. I put back the battery and could see the battery was almost completly loaded. Somthing about 80%. So my Nighthawk is working again.

I hope this wil work for others as well. Good luck

CVDW from Holland (I boucht the Nigthawk M1 in april 2017 at Telstra's Sydney, Australia)

jenjo77 · ‎2017-08-08

Thanks so much CVDW, that's a great tip. I'm on to my third Nighthawk since March, with the first two having the same problem, but it never occurred to me to remove the SIM card. If it happens again - 2 months seems to be the fail time - I'll try taking out the SIM card and see what happens. Hope at last!

mdgm-ntgr · ‎2017-08-13

Please update to the latest firmware (NTG9X50C_10.16.04.04). There are some battery charging improvements in this update.

Cage1010 · ‎2017-08-15

The latest firmware did solve some battery issue, but battery couldn't be charged issue would still happen when the battery temp is too high, and even if I lower the temp of battery, you may need to unplug the type-C and plug again to let system start to charge and slowly. I checked the m.home, and the temp of battery was about 42C, and system was 43C. The room temp was about 32C. Could NETGEAR engineer help to duplicate it and solve it? Thanks a lot.

Cage1010 · ‎2017-08-15

By the way, I have upgraded to the latest firmware which is NTG9X50C_10.16.04.04.

jenjo77 · ‎2017-08-15

Thanks for that info. Let's hope the battery doesn't do a Samsung and burst into flames as they overheat! I'm on my third Netgeat since March, so I'm hoping this battery lasts more than 2 months. I've been told not to over-charge it, not to uner-charge it, so I am going to try to stay in the 'just right' zone and keep my fingers crossed. Someone said that, as a last resort, when his battery died yet again he took out the SIM and the charge came back. will let you know if it works!

jenjo77 · ‎2017-08-15

Great suggestion. Do you know how I do this? I got my Nighthawk through my phone plan, and there's nothing on their page re updates.

mdgm-ntgr · ‎2017-08-16

Go to http://192.168.1.1

Login and go to Settings > Administration > Firmware Update and you can check for updates.

jenjo77 · ‎2017-08-17

Thanks so much, will check it out. I've checked Telstra Crowdsupport and found that many had problems with their SIM after upgrading, it was no longer recognised as a Telstra SIM and they shifted them to PrePaid, but I can deal with that as long as the battery keeps ging longer than two months!

Dom198 · ‎2017-11-05

I’m having the same issue and the battery gets super hot I’m scared it’s going to burn my house down and netgear is not offering support in a timely manner

JamesGL · ‎2017-11-09

Hi Dom198,

You have to contact Telstra and have it replaced.

https://kb.netgear.com/23955/How-to-get-an-AirCard-product-warranty-Return-Materials-Authorization-R...

ajohnsonmc · ‎2017-11-09

Hi there, this link is for an AirCard replacement request, not for the Nighthawk.Telstra won't accept it.

MeriA · ‎2017-11-11

Same problem, won't charge, purchased in Australia.

So annoying.

Swapped chargers and powerpoints and so on.

Taking battery and SIM card WORKED!!

Good luck!

Souvorkin · ‎2017-11-14

I have the sam problem, bettery level keeps dropping while indicating its plugged in and "charging". Forced to turn off, wait to charge and then resume. Terrible work Netgear.

TThumper89 · ‎2017-11-28

I purchased my Nighthawk through my phone carrier about a month ago. I just realized, while my device is plugged in, the app is indicating the battery level is only 38% and I’m not seeing the typical charging “lightning bolt” I’m accustomed to seing when devices are being charged. This led me to explore some of the setting in the app. I decided to try changing the tethering selection (Settings>General>Router>Tethering) from “charge and tether” to “charge only.” I am now seeing the lightning bolt indication the battery is charging and I am now seeing the battery percentage slowly increasing. Hoping this may be a solution for my particular issue.